The state attorney general’s office announced Monday that Utah will receive millions in settlement funds from Mylan Inc., a pharmaceutical company.
Utah and eight other states investigated the pharmaceutical company with the support of six other states for dishonestly marketing its opioid-related products as being not prone to abuse by users.
Some of the products distributed by Mylan Inc. included generic fentanyl patches, oxycodone, hydrocodone, and buprenorphine products. The states argued that the company sold these medications to doctors, aware of their addictive effects, which then led to overprescribing, and ultimately contributing to the opioid epidemic.
“I am pleased to announce a settlement of $335 million with Mylan Inc. for their role in the deadly opioid crisis. Mylan was aware that its opioid products, including fentanyl patches, were especially prone to abuse, and did not inform consumers of that issue,” Utah Attorney General Derek Brown said in a press release.
“I am grateful for the relentless work of the attorneys in the Office of the Utah Attorney General in holding Mylan accountable, and remain committed to saving Utah lives from the opioid crisis.”
Mylan Inc. will pay the involved states for the next nine years.
This settlement was negotiated by the attorneys general of Utah, California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, and Virginia, with coordinating efforts by state attorneys in Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, and Vermont.
For Utah, the settlement will add to the funds already accumulated from opioid-related litigation. According to Brown’s press release, the state has received $81 million and is expected nearly half a billion dollars more in the next 15 years.